Photo:
The band arrive onstage to the sound of Bon Jovi’s ‘Livin’ On A Prayer’ - already the small crowd were binding together, clambering to get a better view of unofficial front man and bassist Pete Wentz. Mr Wentz was happy enough to scoff up all the plaudits whilst cripplingly shy vocalist Patrick Stump hid beneath a turned-down baseball cap. A shame really because Stump’s vocals are what drives the majority of the songs. The infectious ‘Sugar We’re Goin’ Down’ rattled across the hall with doubled-up vocals from the audience. As the set went on the crowd’s admiration for Wentz and co grew with the band launching all kinds of inane free souvenirs towards them.
The wordy ‘A Little Less Sixteen Candles A Little More Touch Me’ was a lot more plaintive than the title suggested with pop sensibilities driven to the forefront. The new material from ‘Infinity On High’ muscled up well against the old tunes and the bands stab at global politics on ‘This Ain’t A Scene, It’s An Arms Race’ was goofy but showed a marked change in musical direction.
The encore produced much of the same breakneck emo but the band had kept back one last workout in the shape of ‘Dance Dance.’ Wentz’s lumbering bassline intro produced a circled frenzy in the middle of an already sweat-soaked crowd. Although the majority of Fall Out Boy’s fans consist of spiky adolescent females and geeky outsider males, it hasn’t detracted from their ability to rack up millions of sales and at the same time obtain a multitude of respect from the music press. Purists may scowl at their nonsense lyrics and over-egged showmanship, but Fall Out Boy are playing the fabricated emo scene with style and finesse.
